U.S. undeterred by militant threats in Iraq and Syria

Thursday

Aug 21, 2014 at 12:01 AMAug 21, 2014 at 11:03 AM

WASHINGTON - The United States launched a new barrage of airstrikes yesterday against the Islamic State extremist group that beheaded American journalist James Foley and that has seized a swath of territory across Iraq and Syria.

WASHINGTON - The United States launched a new barrage of airstrikes yesterday against the Islamic State extremist group that beheaded American journalist James Foley and that has seized a swath of territory across Iraq and Syria. ????

President Barack Obama vowed relentless pursuit of the terrorists, and the White House revealed that the U.S. had launched a secret rescue mission inside Syria this summer that failed to rescue Foley and other Americans still being held hostage.

In brief but forceful remarks, Obama said the U.S. would "do what we must to protect our people,"p p p but he stopped short of promising to follow the Islamic State into its safe haven in Syria, where officials said yesterday that Foley was killed. However, when pressed, the State Department refused to rule out future U.S. military operations in Syria, where the U.S. has resisted intervening in a 3-year-old civil war.

The Islamic State called Foley's execution a revenge killing for U.S. airstrikes against militants in Iraq, and it said other hostages would be slain if the attacks continued. Undeterred, the U.S. conducted 14 strikes after a video of the beheading surfaced, bringing to 84 the number of airstrikes since they began on Aug. 8.

Foley's mother said she is praying for other hostages being held by the Sunni-dominated terrorist group, and she described her son's slaying as "just evil."

Obama agreed.

"No just God would stand for what they did yesterday, and for what they do every single day," the president said. The Islamic State militants have promised to eliminate all people they consider heretics in their quest to create an extremist state across much of Iraq and Syria.

"We will be vigilant and we will be relentless," Obama said, urging unity among Mideast governments in order to eviscerate the extremist group's growing power. He spoke from Martha's Vineyard, Mass., where his family is vacationing.

Western nations also agreed to speed help to combat the militants - most notably Germany, which bucked public opposition by announcing it would arm Iraqi Kurdish fighters to battle the Islamic State.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said he was outraged by the execution, deeming it evidence of a "caliphate of barbarism."

Italy's defense minister said the country hopes to contribute machine guns, ammunition and anti-tank rockets.

Two U.S. officials said additional American troops - probably fewer than 300 - could be headed to Iraq to provide extra security around Baghdad, where the U.S. Embassy is located. That would bring the total number of American forces in Iraq to more than 1,000, although officials said no final decision had been made. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter by name.

In capitals across the Middle East, by contrast, the news of Foley's death was met with silence, even in Syria and Iraq - the two countries where the Islamic State is strongest. On social media, people in the region condemned Foley's killing but stressed that the Islamic State has been committing atrocities against Iraqis and Syrians for years.

For much of the past year, and until this summer, the Obama administration was deeply divided on how much of a threat the Islamic State posed to Americans or even other nations beyond Iraq and Syria. But since the militants' march across northern Iraq in June, and as its ranks swelled almost threefold to an estimated 15,000 fighters, Obama has acknowledged that the Islamic State could become a direct threat to Americans.

The secret mission to rescue the U.S. hostages involved several dozen special-operations forces dropped by aircraft into Syria. The hostages weren't found, but special forces engaged in a firefight with Islamic State militants before departing, according to administration officials. Several militants were killed, and one American sustained minor injuries.

Foley's death proved to the West what many people in Syria and Iraq already knew: The Islamic State "has declared war on the civilized world," said Dr. Najib Ghadibian, the Syrian National Coalition's special representative to the U.S.

The group's sweep also has served as a wake-up call to other Mideast governments, said Fawaz Gerges, director of the Middle East Center at the London School of Economics.

"The Saudis, the Kuwaitis, the Emiratis and even the Qataris are getting the message now," Gerges said. "I think in the last few weeks we have seen a kind of new awareness on the part of regional powers that the Islamic State does present a threat to the very social fabric and the foundation of the state system."

He said Foley's death could help intensify efforts on the part of Washington's regional allies to make a more concerted effort to address the threat.

Jordan and Saudi Arabia, both of whom share a border with Iraq, have dispatched troops to the frontier in a bid to prevent any attempt by the extremists to attack. Iran, an ally of the Shiite-led government in Baghdad, has sent military advisers to help organize Shiite militias in Iraq and defend holy sites.